Sister of missing veteran: 'I'm going to keep looking for her'

Lucero "Lucy" Gonzalez, 30, has become the family spokesperson during the search for her missing sister Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36, in photo left. Gonzalez is very close to her sister and has interviewed with television stations and newspapers to get the story out that Ramos has been missing since last Thursday. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Description of Maribel Ramos

•Authorities described Maribel Ramos as a Latina, 5-foot-2, 130 pounds, with brown, shoulder-length hair, a tattoo of a star on her left shoulder and an

"Aztec/tribal symbol" tattooed on her lower back.

•Police ask anyone with information to contact detective Joey Ramirez at 714-936-4501 or the Orange Police Department at 714-744-7403.

Source: Orange Police Department

Maribel Ramos' family sensed something was wrong when the 36-year-old Cal State Fullerton student was not at her apartment Friday after missing a baseball game.

"She was supposed to get there and play, and she didn't show up," said her sister Lucero Gonzalez, 30, from her Santa Ana home. "They played the game, and then they went to her house. Nobody answered, and they called the cops right away."

"There was no question about it ... that was just way out of the ordinary for her," Gonzalez added.

It's been six days since Ramos was last seen Thursday about 8:30 p.m., and authorities believe the circumstances behind her disappearance are suspicious, Orange police Sgt. Fred Lopez said. Investigators reportedly found no signs of violence at her home.

Her car was left in the apartment complex, but her keys, cellphone and purse are missing, Gonzalez said.

Ramos is a criminal justice major who served in South Korea and Iraq as an Army sergeant from 2001 to 2008, the Cal State Fullerton website said.

She was listed among the veteran graduates to be recognized at the university's annual Veterans Appreciation Night on Saturday, the day after she was reported missing.

Ramos, who has been described as a top student and works at the university's veterans center, is due to graduate May 26.

Gonzalez said she heard from her sister Thursday evening after she had returned from a trip to Chicago. Ramos, along with another veteran student and an alumna, had taken part in a May 1 panel in Chicago that focused on transitioning from the military to the university, the Cal Sate Fullerton website said.

"She went to work on Thursday. They sent her home because she was tired. She came in from Chicago the night before," Gonzalez said.

It was 5:48 p.m. Thursday when Gonzalez said she received a text from Ramos, telling her she was resting.

"There's no question there's something going on here," Gonzalez said. "My sister's missing. I know that it's not because she wants to be missing."

Gonzalez said her sister was not depressed and did not suffer from a mental illness. She did recall a Disneyland trip where the fireworks threw her sister off into a "whole other mode."

"She has things that trigger certain things but not to the point of depression and her leaving and just wandering off or harming herself or thinking of harming herself."

Ramos is dating a man who was at the baseball game Friday, Gonzalez said.

Since finding out about her sister's disappearance, Gonzalez's life has been turned upside-down. She's taken days off work to field numerous television news interviews and has distributed fliers announcing her sister's disappearance.

"I don't want to go back to work until I know that I'm doing what I can to find her ... nothing else matters," she said.

As Gonzalez logged on to her email account Wednesday, the news story of the missing women found in Cleveland popped up on her screen. It helped remind her to not lose hope, she said.

Lucero "Lucy" Gonzalez, 30, has become the family spokesperson during the search for her missing sister Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36, in photo left. Gonzalez is very close to her sister and has interviewed with television stations and newspapers to get the story out that Ramos has been missing since last Thursday. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Lucero "Lucy" Gonzalez, 30, has become the family spokesperson during the search for her missing sister Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36. Gonzalez is very close to her sister and has interviewed with television stations and newspapers to get the story out that Ramos has been missing since last Thursday. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Lucero "Lucy" Gonzalez, 30, created flyers to ask the public's help in find her missing sister, Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Lucero "Lucy" Gonzalez, 30, has become the family spokesperson during the search for her missing sister Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36. Gonzalez is very close to her sister and has interviewed with television stations and newspapers to get the story out that Ramos has been missing since last Thursday. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A tiny statue that says "Best Sister" is a treasured memento of Lucero "Lucy" Gonzalez, 30. It was given to Gonzalez by her sister, Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36, who is the subject of a missing person search by the Orange Police Department. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Lucero "Lucy" Gonzalez, 30, has become the family spokesperson during the search for her missing sister Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36. Gonzalez is very close to her sister and has interviewed with television stations and newspapers to get the story out that Ramos has been missing since last Thursday. Here she reacts during an interview with Noticias 62. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Lucero "Lucy" Gonzalez, 30, has become the family spokesperson during the search for her missing sister Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36. Gonzalez is very close to her sister and has interviewed with television stations and newspapers to get the story out that Ramos has been missing since last Thursday. Here she conducts an interview with television station Noticias 62. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Authorities believe that the circumstances behind the disappearance of Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36, are suspicious, Orange police Sgt. Fred Lopez said. Ramos' family called police after she failed to show up to some "professional and personal commitments she had made to a variety of people," Lopez said. She hasn't been in contact with family members she is close to, he said. Family looked for her last Thursday night at her apartment, right, in Orange. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Police on Tuesday continued to seek the public's help in locating a Cal State Fullerton student from Orange who was reported missing Friday. Authorities believe that the circumstances behind the disappearance of Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36, are suspicious, Orange police Sgt. Fred Lopez said. Ramos' family called police after she failed to show up to some "professional and personal commitments she had made to a variety of people," Lopez said. She hasn't been in contact with family members she is close to, he said PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCERO GONZALEZ
A personal photo of Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36, who served in South Korea and Iraq as an Army sergeant from 2001 to 2008. PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCERO GONZALEZ
A personal photo of Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36, who served in South Korea and Iraq as an Army sergeant from 2001 to 2008. PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCERO GONZALEZ
A personal photo of Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36, who served in South Korea and Iraq as an Army sergeant from 2001 to 2008. PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCERO GONZALEZ
A personal photo of Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36, who served in South Korea and Iraq as an Army sergeant from 2001 to 2008. PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCERO GONZALEZ
A personal collage of photos of Maribel Manriquez Ramos, 36, and her sister Lucero Gonzalez, 30, shows the sisters enjoying a previous CSUF Veteran's Appreciation Night. Ramos was listed among the veteran graduates to be recognized at the university's annual Veterans Appreciation Night on Saturday, May 4, the day after she was reported missing. PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCERO GONZALEZ

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